Price caps on zoned and unzoned building land are two measures in a Private Members' Bill approved for publication by the Labour Parliamentary Party today.
The Bill would cap the price of building land at existing unzoned-use value plus 25 per cent, in line with the recommendation made in the Kenny Report published 30 years ago, and will cap owned land at its current value.
The Labour Party Spokesperson on the Environment and Local Government, Mr Eamon Gilmore, said the cost of a site now constitutes between 40 per cent and 50 per cent of the price of a house.
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Mr Eamon Gilmore
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"That means that the purchaser of an average new house is paying over €100,000 to whoever owned the site, which was probably worth little more than €1,000 in its original agricultural use," said Mr Gilmore.
He said measures to control the price of building land were essential if the price of housing was to be brought under control and if many young families were to have any hope of owning their own homes.
"[The effect of] the Planning and Development (Acquisition of Development Land) (Assessment of Compensation) Bill, 2003, . . . will be to end ongoing speculation in building land, which has been one of the major factors contributing to the continuing increase in house prices," Mr Gilmore said.
The Bill would also enable local authorities to step in and force any hoarded building land into use. The councils will be able to do this by compulsorily purchasing building land and releasing it to builders who are prepared to use it.
Labour said it will also be looking for the reintroduction of a 60 per cent rate of Capital Gains Tax on the sale of hoarded building land to encourage builders to release land.
This rate of tax was originally introduced following the Bacon Report in 1998, but was dropped in a subsequent budget.
Mr Gilmore said Labour were confident on the basis of the legal advice that the Bill can be enacted within the existing constitutional framework and that no constitutional amendment would be required.